Monday, April 11, 2011

Got Grebe?

Just when I thought I was back to a routine last week my car battery started acting up. So, quite a few days later I was back at Standley Lake Park checking to see what was about at lunch time. I was fortunate, one of the Horned Grebes was still around. It was fairly close to shore, and in better - if overly bright mid-day sun. I parked and approached along the shore from the west. That gave me better looks than I had gotten when looking directly south from the road. Grebes, for those who don't know, are diving ducks. They submerge for long periods chasing after fish like the one above. While they are underwater is a great time to gradually move along the shore towards them. As I was conducting the 'squat and scurry' routine two geese arrived to confirm that I was not some aggressive predator. I am not a huge fan of the Canadas, but these two, (there were two), swam along shore to where I was standing, emerged and circled me within arms distance. Waited, I guess to see if I would feed them, and then after getting a drink headed back to the water. There are a bunch of fishermen along the shore, so perhaps they are conditioned. These two weren't overly aggressive - they just checked my spot to see if I was at a good feeding spot and then went on their way. A handful of gulls were out as well. All the individuals that I could see were Ring-billed. This picture and one other did raise a good photographic question though. I was panning with the birds, from about 12:00 to 10:00, starting due south. Notice the ghosting? I am curious if that is an effect of the camera's processor computing light and dark regions vs the rate of panning motion. Any ideas or thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. *Update - just looked at this on a different monitor and the image looks fine* Gulls and Geese aside, this little Grebe definitely stole the show today!

4 comments:

  1. I hugely enjoyed the close-up of the goose!

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  2. Grebes are so neat! I love watching them fish. Amazing shot of the goose, by the way!

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  3. No ghosting on my monitor either...

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  4. No, it is definitly chronic on one specific monitor - and always present. Not bad enough to warrant replacement, but noticeablenow that I have spotted it~

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